A Silver Remnant
by Vivieatto
Summary: After being trapped in the Iifa tree, Zidane miraculously found his way back to Lindblum. However, he is insecure about seeing Dagger again, and does not send news to her that he is alive. He bumps into a girl thief who is wandering in the Mist Continent to look for her brother. Who is she, and why are black mages so interested in her? Can Zidane and Dagger ever be together?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The market street was crowded. Merchants hollered at the top of their voices, housewives bargained for the best offers and children too young to be left at home clutched tightly to their mothers' dresses.

She was a grey shadow in the sea of vibrant colours. She kept her head low and darted around the corners of stalls. Her eyes swept across the crowd and dark alleys, always looking, always searching.

Her gaze fell on a tail that swung to and fro. It was attached to a lean young man wearing jeans and a blue vest. His heavily layered blond hair was tied in a low ponytail. She scrutinized the blond man's behind. Or rather the thick wallet peeking out from his denim overall's pocket. Hmm. Finally an easy target. Although she had to admit that she was surprised that there would be someone with as much cash in this small farming village. After this, she could finally get a good meal, a warm bed at the inn…

She pulled the hood lower down her face and quickened her footsteps. When she was right behind the man and began to pass him, her deft fingers reached down and brushed against the rough leather of the wallet. She smiled inwardly as her hands closed around her target.

Suddenly, quick as a cat catching its prey, the blond man turned and grabbed her hand out of his pocket. He smirked when he saw that his wallet was in her hands. Her eyes widened as she realized her predicament. She twisted and struggled to get out of his grip, but damned was he strong!

"Ow, ow, you're hurting me! Let go!" she yelled.

"Heh, just your luck to have met me! You can't ever steal from the best guy in the business!" the young man gave her his brightest smile and raised his other hand, which was holding on to HER purse.

The man grabbed his own wallet back, released her and disappeared into the crowd before she could react. She could only stare in the direction that he left. Now not only had she failed to get extra cash, what little money she had left was gone as well. She was determined to get it back; both her money, and his money which should have been hers. She pushed back the stray strand of silver hair that had escaped the hood before anyone started to stare, and pushed through the crowd after the blond thief.

xxxxx

A man watched from the shadows as the girl had a brief struggle with the blond youth. A lock of silver hair fell across her face, confirming his suspicions. His eyes shone with glee and determination as he followed her silently. 

* * *

**A/N: Just a short chapter to start the story off!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zidane grinned to himself as he headed toward the Tantalus hideout in the Theatre District. He had not lost his touch, he thought as his opened the girl's purse and looked through its contents. Just a few Gil, dirty old receipts and nothing in the way of identification. Nevertheless, he knew that she would be after him in no time. He could see it in her eyes. When she caught up, he would return the purse to her with an elaborate bow, then ask her out for dinner, his treat. She was pretty cute, after all-

...wait. His Dagger was still waiting for him. He had promised her. He had a headache and a heartache all at once just thinking about her. He loved her so much, it pained him to be separated from her for so long. But she was no longer Dagger. She was Queen Garnet now. She had a whole nation to be responsible for. And he- He would always be a street thief, a free man, a peasant unworthy of the Queen. After two years of separation, he still couldn't quite gather the courage to face her.

"Stop! Thief!" came a cry from a distance behind him. He looked back, expecting a chance to save some damsel in distress, only to find the hooded figure whose wallet was in his pocket. Oh shit. He didn't expect her to catch up THAT quickly. By reflex, he turned and ran.

"Oof!" suddenly he bounced off something in front of him and landed on the floor. A split second later, a heavy blade came down aiming for his head. He scrambled away just in time and the blade hit the ground harmlessly. He looked up to see his boss, Baku, take another swing at him. He jumped backward and pulled out his twin short swords in one motion. The two grinned at each other as they went at it, neither one giving way to the other. Metal clanged against metal.

Zidane gave a yelp as he felt a burning sensation on his thigh. He thought that he must have had gotten nicked by Baku's sword at some point. It was only after a moment that he realised that his pants were actually on fire! He hopped around frantically, trying to extinguish the fire while fending off Baku's relentless sword thrusts.

Somehow, he managed to fish out the burning item in his pocket and threw it on the ground. He and Baku stared at it, he in wonder at why the girl's purse had spontaneously burst into flames, and Baku at why in the world Zidane had such a girly item in his possession.

At this worst possible point, the hooded girl went up to Zidane and extended her hand out to him expectantly. Zidane could only look at her, point at the purse burning merrily on the ground, and shrug helplessly. The girl was horrified when she recognised that her purse and the Gil inside were being burnt to a crisp. She shot him a look of pure hatred, and strode off angrily.

"H-Hey! I'm sorry! Wait!" Zidane called after her. She only walked off faster.

"Gwahaha! You lose!" Baku gaffled.

Zidane sighed, slumped his shoulders and looked at the ashes on the ground. A corner of a photograph caught his eye. It must have been stashed in a secret corner of the purse. He bent down and picked it up. The photo had been badly burnt, but he could distinctly see... silver hair. Alarm bells went off in his head. He snapped his head around, looking for the girl, but she had already left. Instead, he thought he saw a shadowy figure in a pointy hat dart around a corner.

"Damn this is bad, this is bad!" Zidane yelled as he took off after the black mage.

"What's so bad?" Baku scratched his belly as he watched what was the equivalent of his adopted son go. 

xxxxx

She stomped down the path angrily, her vision blurred by frustrated tears. The light from the setting sun glinted off the stray strands of her silver hair. She wanted so much to be like other girls, to work hard in the day as shopkeepers or waitresses, and laugh and flirt with a cute guy or two at night. But if she took off her hood, people would stare at her strangely and point at her behind her back. She couldn't understand why. And now that horrid thief had burnt all her remaining Gil, for his amusement, she supposed. Sigh.. it was going to be another long night for her in the streets.

She slowly made her way toward the Industrial District. She had her own little corner there, right by the factory that stuffed pillows, cushions and the like. If she was lucky, she could get a nice little broken mattress to sleep on. A bonus about that District was that there would not be anyone around there at night to look at her with suspicious eyes. There was always those like her, homeless and wanderers, but she could always scare them into submission. She fingered the dagger that she always kept about her and scowled. They were all cowards.

The last of the workers stepped into the air cab leading out as she turned the corner into the Industrial District. She looked around and was glad to see that she was alone. She may be adept at handling herself, but that didn't mean she enjoyed intimidating people. She checked in her favourite corner -and yes! There was a relatively nice-looking sofa thrown there. She sat down gingerly to test it. The stuffing was a little thin, but it held well. She tried to lie down on it. There was a broken piece of wood that dug into her back, but if she shifted her position and avoided that, she could make herself quite comfortable. Finally, she had some good luck for the day.

She pulled the heavy hood off and gazed at the stars. She imagined that her brother was looking at the same stars, somewhere in this world, or even beyond. Her brother had been missing for two years now. It was not as if she could not live without him; he often left her alone in their home for days on end, but this was the first time that he had been gone for so long. So she travelled to look for him. It wasn't as if she was worried about him- no, never, he would laugh at her if she did that- she was just tired of being alone.

She watched her hair glitter in the moonlight. The silver reminded her of her brother. She sighed. Her brother did always warn her not to leave their home, saying that Gaia was merciless, difficult, treacherous. She was always jealous of him having the chance to travel the world and explore all wonders, while she could only read about the same wonders in their library. Now she realised that he was right. She thought it would get easier over time, that she would eventually be accepted, but it had been two years and people did not go any easier on her. Now she was too far away from home to give up and travel back before she found him. She had considered cutting all her hair off, but she couldn't bear to do that. Her brother loved her hair, almost as much as his own. She sighed again and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound. Her eyes shot open instantly, only to find two large glowing eyes glaring at her menacingly. She started to scream, but the mage immediately smothered her with a smelly cloth. She tried to twist and turn and pull the mage's arm off her, but to no avail. Frantic, she pulled her dagger out and swung it wildly. It only cut shallowly into the mage's arm, but he yelped in surprise and loosened his hold. She rolled off the sofa and onto her feet. The mage recovered quickly and tried to tackle her down. However, she was agile if not strong, and managed to free her hand holding the dagger. She took a swipe at his face, and the mage stepped back to avoid being cut. Taking the chance, she broke free and ran.

Angered, the mage let loose a fire spell. The girl tried to dodge as the air exploded around her. The fire missed its target, but the force of the blast sent her hard into a wall. Pain shot through her shoulder, but she picked herself up and desperately tried to get away before the black image could charge up another spell. But he had the advantage of range.

"Demi," he chanted as he moved his hands fluidly through the motions needed to cast the spell.

She felt a heavy sensation that started from her chest. A small circle of dark light emerged from the centre of her body and spread outward rapidly. The gravitational magic pulled her to the ground. She felt as if her whole body was being pulled into that dark circle. The pull grew in intensity till she felt as if she was imploding. She screamed in agony. Then, the pull on her was suddenly released. Her sensations exploded. Her body convulsed violently, then lay still.

xxxxx 

Zidane stepped into the dark and lonely streets of the Industrial District. He had gone back to the market, combed the entire Theatre and Business Districts, but saw no sign of the girl. The Industrial District was the last place he had thought she would be at. There were no residential areas here, so the only lights were dim and in disrepair, and no soldiers patrolled the area at night. He held his short swords at the ready. The district was infamous as a breeding ground for gangsters, cutthroats and robbers after dark. However, it was unusually quiet tonight. That deepened his worry. Yeah, he had been through some pretty scary places, many tough fights and had almost lost his life more than once, but the atmosphere of this place was still getting to him.

He searched cautiously through the streets and narrow, dusty alley. Suddenly, there was a distinct scratching noise behind him. He whipped around, only to see a large rat foraging through some pieces of cardboard. The rat stared at him with menace in its eyes, squeaked angrily and darted off. Zidane laughed nervously at himself, scratched his head and wondered if he should return home. He must have been thinking too much that afternoon. The girl must be safe in her home already. He would find her in the market again tomorrow, compensate her for the burnt purse and Gil, and treat her to a meal as an apology. Yeah. he would do that. Zidane took a deep breath and started to make his way out.

Suddenly, a sharp scream cut through the heavy air. It stopped abruptly, but Zidane was able to gather the general direction of the sound. Adrenaline pumping, he sped off in that direction. Seconds later, there was a sound like a large thunder clap, followed by a flash of orange light just around the corner of the far end of the street that Zidane was on. A fire spell. He pushed himself to run faster. An agonized scream pierced through the silent alleys as he sped around the corner, skidding to a stop.

In the distance, he saw a figure with long silver hair writhe in pain, then lay still. A black mage with large yellow glowing eyes picked the motionless figure up effortlessly and slung her over his shoulder. He began casting a spell, moving his hands through complicated motions.

"Hey! Stop!" Zidane shouted as he rushed toward the black mage, weapons raised.

Startled, the mage's eyes grew wide as he saw Zidane approching him, fast. He completed the previous spell and immediately directed a low-level Thunder at Zidane. He jumped out of the way in time as lightning flashed from the sky. He was knocked off his feet, however, as the blast of electricity hit the ground. A column of green light surrounded the black mage. Zidane recognized it as the teleportation spell that the black mages had used in Cleyra. He scrambled to his feet, launched himself toward the mage and thrust his sword out- only to strike thin air. The black image was gone, girl and all. He kicked the ground in frustration. Damn, if he had been just a little faster...!

A girl with silver hair, abducted by an awakened black image.. Zidane did not know what this all meant, but he had the feeling something bad was about to happen... again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The brand-new Prima II took off from the castle's airship docks. It was one of few newly completed airships on Gaia that ran on wind magic provided by black mages. Ever since the mist disappeared, old airships had lost their ability to fly, and their parts were being sold to build new airships. Lindblum's expert engineers had been working round the clock to produce more airship designs. The Prima II was the brainchild of none other than the Regent Cid himself, as a way of appreciating Tantalus' role in saving the world, as well as their work in helping to rebuild Lindblum.

The new airship was longer and flatter, but the mermaid; the airship's figurehead and the theatre troupe's lucky symbol, was replicated in perfect detail. The new stage inbuilt into the airship had more tricks and traps than ever before. Tantalus was currently hard at work scripting a play (and thieving scheme) that would make use of all their new toys.

"You should use the platform right here and trigger EX-13, then I would jump in from here and-"

"Nah, boy! Y'all reckon zee effects would wait for ya? Now da' way I see it..."

Zidane sighed as Marcus and Ruby squabbled over the timing of their aappearances.

"I told you guys not to follow," Zidane said, turning to his red-headed friend leaning against the doorway, "you should have stayed in Lindblum to perfect the play!"

"And let you fly our stage away?" Blank retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Zidane sighed again. He knew that wasn't the real reason. His friends were worried for him, ever since he came back and refused to go see Dagger. However, he was worried for their safety. The guys were really good fighters, yes, Baku made sure of that, but none of them had any real combat experience, unlike him. And Ruby didn't even know how to hold a dagger! However, he was also glad to have them for company. He supposed he just had to make sure that none of them got hurt.

Yesterday night, after the black mage had gotten away, Zidane decided that he had to find out what was going on. The obvious place to go for more information was the Black Mage Village. He thought of "borrowing" the Prima II to get to the Outer Continent. But first, he had to go back to the Tantalus' hideout to grab some supplies. He did tell the other members that he had to leave to settle some things, but made no mention of the airship. His friends had insisted to go with him, but he vehemently refused. To prevent them from following him, he had walked out of Lindblum, doubled back to stay at the inn for one night, then sneaked onto the Prima II early the next morning. Who would expect that the whole Tantalus gang was waiting for him at the steering room when he got there? They knew him too well.

With three days to spare before they reached the Outer Continent, Zidane joined in the rehearsals of the troupe. He had missed them tremendously, during both his chase after Kuja and when he was stuck in the Iifa tree. He relished the thrill onstage and their sneaky endeavours offstage. The adrenaline rush when they had to keep in perfect time, lest their play failed and their actual ploy got discovered.

In their latest remake of "I Want To Be Your Canary", Zidane and Blank had a sword fight scene where they were to make use of fancy sword techniques and special effects to captivate the audience, giving the rest time to search around the nobles' homes. The new sword choreography was complicated, fast, and entailed a certain amount of danger. Zidane and Blank were alone on the stage going through the movements in slow motion, building the muscle memory needed to pull the act off. Zidane thrust his longsword at Blank's head, and Blank did a back flip out of the way. In retaliation, he raised his right hand in a flourish of power, and at this point, a green fireball was supposed to explode in Zidane's face. Zidane fell to the floor in mock injury.

"You know," Blank said as he brought his sword down slowly in a finishing move while Zidane rolled out of the way in slow-mo, "I heard that the Queen of Alexandria had refused all handsome and politically powerful suitors. Rumours go that she had already fallen in love with an ugly pauper. Maybe you should finally show your ugly face to the people of Alexandria?"

Zidane winced at the damage to his reputation, got to his feet and pointed his sword at Blank. "Hearsay! I have the looks of a prince, but alas! I am but a commoner, never to be worthy of a Queen!" He jumped and struck down at Blank, who allowed the tip of the blunt sword to brush across his chest. Blank brought one hand to his chest as if in pain, and thrust his sword arm at Zidane, missing him by a large margin, "If even the Queen does not mind, who are YOU to speak about status?"

"Precisely the point!" Zidane yelled, all his bottled up frustration flowing out, "We will always have a difference in status! The one I love is Dagger, not Queen Garnet!" He grabbed Blank's outstretched hand, while Blank pushed off the ground to aid him as he swiveled Blank over his shoulder and threw him on the ground, perhaps with more force than he intended.

Blank hit the floor of the stage with a loud thud and groaned. At this point in the script, he was supposed to relent and let Zidane step past him. Instead, he sprung up immediately and swung his sword at Zidane. Taken aback, Zidane raised his sword in defense and managed to deflect the attack, but not completely. The blunt sword hit his shoulder, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to leave a nasty bruise later on.

"Queen Garnet is Dagger! Stop treating her as if they were separate people! Do you know how hard it is for her, not knowing whether you are alive or dead?! Stop being a coward and go face her!" Blank shouted at Zidane.

Zidane was enraged. How could Blank lecture him when he didn't understand his feelings at all? Blank had never even been in a serious relationship before! Zidane gripped his sword and charged at Blank. Metal clanged as the two swords connected. The two of them separated and charged at each other again. They exchanged a flurry of blows, neither gaining an advantage as they were evenly matched with a longsword, but Zidane had much more stamina than Blank, which was expected after the battles he had gone through. Blank struggled to keep up with Zidane's advances. He put up his sword again to block Zidane's slash. The two pushed against each other, neither retreating. Blank ground his teeth and willed himself to hold on, as he his muscles screamed in protest. Zidane felt Blank faltering. He used a burst of strength and pushed Blank back. Blank overbalanced and fell. Zidane used the flat of his blade and slapped Blank's sword away. He brought the tip of his sword to Blank's throat.

The sound of clapping echoed around the empty stage. Both of them turned as Baku walked over to them. "Alright, boys! Was that the new choreography? That was great!" he exclaimed.

The two looked at each other. Blank couldn't help but snicker. Soon, Zidane joined in as well and the two of them burst out in uncontrollable laughter, much to Baku's bafflement. Zidane flopped down beside the youth who was practically his brother, while trying to catch his breath from laughing too much. He felt better after the fight.

"I want to be her canary, but I don't want to be kept in a cage."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Blank stood at the wheel and stopped the airship, looking into the horizon. There was dry, patchy ground all around and nothing much else. It was unbearably hot.

"Uhhhh.. Where'd you say this place was again?" he asked Zidane, who was busy fanning himself with the map.

Zidane opened the map in his hand, rotated it to the right, turned it upside down, and back again. He looked sheepishly at Blank and said, "Actually I've no idea.. Steiner was always the better navigator." Blank sighed and shook his head. That was so expected. Zidane would have been chatting up with the Princess while the rest were charting the course to their next destination.

"There's something there," Blank pointed, squinting at something that looked like a mushroom-shaped structure in the far distance. As the Prima II went nearer, Zidane recognized it as the village of Conde Petie. "Ah, I know where we are now. The Black Mage Village is not too far off," he said.

xxxxxxxx

The troupe alighted from the airship outside a forest. Out in the desert, the trees were dry and withered due to a lack of water.

"Are you sure this is it?" Baku asked, peering dubiously into the depth of the forest.

"Yea, these guys used magic to conceal their village, since they were not really popular people at that time," Zidane explained. He led the way into the forest, leading the rest through the maze that the black mages had set up to prevent discovery. Finally, they reached a clearing where the path ended. The dried trees grew densely around the clearing.

"We're here, but we need magic to dispel the magic here to enter the village... I don't suppose anyone sees some sort of doorbell here?" Zidane asked, turning to his comrades. They all searched around the clearing, looking for a way to signal their arrival to the black mages. However, there was nothing to be found. Trying to be funny, Zidane rapped his knuckles on a driedup tree and hollered, "Hellooooo! Anybody home?"

To everyone's surprise, the landscape changed right in front of them. The dried trees shimmered and disappeared, replaced by lush green trees and flowering bushes. The forest came alive.

"..Wow." was all that Blank could say.

A black mage stepped out from in between trees. He looked different from the rest of them, with a much smaller stature, and was wearing a hat that was half as tall as he.

"Vivi!" Zidane exclaimed, genuinely happy to see his small friend. He went up to him and smooshed his hat playfully.

Vivi adjusted his hat to get it out of his eyes, and his bright yellow eyes looked up at Zidane in astonishment.

"..Zidane? Zidane! It IS you! You made it out of the Iifa Tree!" Vivi cried out excitedly. "We tried to find you, so many times.. We tried to burn the tree, cut it down, use Thunder to strike it, but nothing worked!"

"..Yeah," Zidane scratched his head. He couldn't, for his life, remember how he got out either. He remembered going into the Iifa Tree to look for Kuja, he vaguely remembered having been trapped in the tree, and he had the feeling that he went on a very long journey.. when he came to, he was lying on his own bed in the Tantalus' hideout. He was told that he had been found unconscious at the grasslands near the Dragon's Gate. His rescuer recognized him as an actor from Tantalus, and brought him to them. The Tantalus members told him that he had been out of it for four days, and they were afraid that he would never wake up.

After a round of introductions, Vivi led the performing troupe into the village. The village had expanded and become more lively, since more black mages had awakened and settled down here. The Genomes from Terra had settled down quite nicely too. It was an oddly sad combination; souls without proper bodies and bodies without proper souls living side by side. However, the village was peaceful and the black mages and Genomes had lived well in their own way. The same could not be said for many people who had both their bodies and souls intact.

The peaceful village went into chaos as the bunch of strangers stepped in. Some of the black mages ran back into their homes to hide, while the Genomes merely looked on in curiosity. A number of black mages who seemed to be in charge of defence narrowed their eyes in suspicion and moved in to circle the intruders.

"E-Erm, g-guys..." Vivi stuttered, stretching his small body in front of the troupe in his best effort to protect them. He didn't expect them to have such a response. He should have informed the village first before bringing Tantalus in. He had caused this problem, so he had to solve it. He adjusted his hat nervously and tried again, "It's OK guys, these are my friends. They're just here to visit, and- Ahh!"

Vivi yelled in surprise as one of the black mages pulled him away and pushed the little mage behind himself defensively, out of the circle.

"Don't be cheated by these bad people, little one," the black mage advised him, "look, they're all carrying weapons!" The mage ignored Vivi's protests and turned back to the troupe. He was apparently the leader of the group. "What is your purpose in coming to the village? Tell us!" he demanded.

"Bwahaha!" Baku, the leader of Tantalus, burst out in loud laughter. "We are the theatre troupe Tantalus! We are travelling Gaia to bring our wonderful performance to the world! It is fate that brought us to this beautiful village! So we shall perform for you right here, for free! Right, boys?" He turned around to address his troupe, and noticed Ruby, her face turning alarmingly black. "...and girl," he added hastily. The Tantalus members brought their arms together in a T-shaped salute. "Yes, boss!" they chorused.

The black mages looked at each other uncertainly. Suddenly, the circle parted and another black mage stepped up. He sized up each of the Tantalus members, and his gaze lingered on Zidane. He turned back to address the mages.

"Everyone, it's alright. These people are our friends. Don't you recognize this young man? He was among Vivi's team that defeated Kuja," he said.

Zidane gave a tentative wave and smile to the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blond girl walking towards them. "Mikoto!" he called out. Mikoto smiled and made her way into the circle.

"Don't worry, he's kind of my brother," she gestured to Zidane. All present could see the ressemblance, although it could be said that all the Genomes looked like siblings anyway. The black mages backed down.

"Your sister?" All of Tantalus turned to stare at Zidane. He hadn't had the time and energy to explain what happened in Terra, especially the part about his 'siblings', where it involved Kuja being his brother. He sighed. He had a long story to tell.

xxxxxxxx

"Oh, my love, pray tell me, why do you be willing to accept a poor peasant such as I, and give up a life of riches?" Zidane drawled in his actor accent.

"Love knows no bounds, my lord," Ruby answered, looking intently into Zidane's eyes.

Zidane gave a dramatic sweep of his hand, and the sky filled with fireworks. The curtain fell to loud applause. True to their word, the theatre troupe gave a performance in their new ship right outside the black mages' forest. Having never seen a play before, the whole village emptied out to watch. The actors came out to take their bow while the black mages chattered excitedly about the flashy magic used in the play. They had no idea that it was just tricks and gimmicks.

The crowd started to disperse, and left behind a group of about five black mages who were chattering excitedly with Vivi and Mikoto.

"What's up?" Zidane asked, walking over to the group.

"This is an airship that can fly, right?" one of the black mages asked, "where will you be travelling next?"

"That would depend.. actually we came here to find out about something," Zidane said.

Not one to mince words, Zidane told them the story of the black mage he saw in Lindblum and the girl the mage had abducted. He left out the part about the silver hair; it was a sensitive topic for the black mages who had been made and controlled as killing machines by the silver-haired Kuja. Vivi's eyes widened in increasing horror as he heard one of his kind performing evil acts again.

The black mages looked at each other. One of them spoke up, "We have not heard of such a thing. The black mages in Lindblum are working as magic providers for the new wind-powered airships such as yours. We have only seen them once a few months ago when they returned here with presents from Lindblum. They did not talk of anyone going renegade and resuming the old ways."

Mikoto continued, "But one of them, Mr 609, had said that he was close to finding a way to prevent the mages from stopping, and even to generate more black mages without the use of mist. Some of the villagers had believed him and had followed him to Alexandria."

"And the few of us have been thinking of joining them in Alexandria. We were reluctant to leave our homes here, but after seeing more of our people stop, we want to help to save our kind. That's why we were hoping you could bring us to the Mist Continent," another one of them finished.

"So what is this method that Mr 609 had come up with?" Zidane asked, intrigued.

"He never said it," Mikoto replied, "They might know about this mage you are looking for though."

"Let's all head to Alexandria then!" Baku boomed, joining in the conversation.

"A-Alexandria?!" Zidane stuttered, taken aback.

"Isn't that great, Zidane? You can finally reunite with Dagger!" Vivi piped up.

"Uh, y-yeah," Zidane forced a laugh.


End file.
